German retail sales unexpectedly rose in January suggesting that consumers may be spending again.
According to data released by the German Statistics Office retail sales were 4.2 per cent higher than in December and 1.2 per cent up January the previous year.
In Germany, seasonally adjusted retail sales rose a nominal 0.6 per cent month-on-month and by an inflation-adjusted, or real, 1.3 per cent in January.
Analysts had expected retail sales to be flat compared with the previous month and down by about 2.3 per cent on January 2002.